


A Lesson in Patience

by DigiFlakes



Category: Alex Verus Series - Benedict Jacka
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-25 19:42:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19752529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigiFlakes/pseuds/DigiFlakes
Summary: Alex made the mistake of causing a scene in public, now Morden wants to make sure it'll never happen again. He gets his Chosen to torment Alex until he learns that patience is a virtue.





	A Lesson in Patience

I used to think that in order to be a sadist, you had to cause physical pain to someone. I learned the hard way that they'll cause whatever pain they can. I was just seconds away, _seconds_ , from finishing my work cleaning the window. All that was left to do was wipe away the excess soap. I had the towel in my hand and I just barely touched the glass when Onyx latched onto my wrist with a vice grip and started pulling me away. I scratched at his arm and dug my feet into the carpet, but all it did was annoy him. He was under direct orders not to physically hurt me, which is why I was comfortable with fighting this hard at all, but it didn't matter. I knew that by the time I'd finally be released and make it back to the window, the soap would be dry and would have stained the glass. I'd have to start over. This was pure agony.   
  
I made a mistake earlier this morning and I've regretted it ever since. In my defense, I was under a lot of stress. Talisid was constantly pestering me to spy for him, Luna wasn't answering my calls, and even Anne was starting to get on my nerves. I was sitting outside the Star Chamber, listening to Jarnaff complain at me. I was getting more and more agitated with every word he spoke, which just made him and me both angrier. Finally, I snapped. I went off on him. I didn't go off in a professional way like the first time I met him. I just went off. Full blown yelling, full blown name calling. And of course, of course, as soon as I started blowing up on him, the sound wards went down. Everyone in the room heard me.   
  
And that's why I was currently in Morden's mansion, taking over the cleaning duties the slaves normally did. We both took a massive social hit from my outburst. Me for doing it and him because I was his aid. People started whispering about how out of control I was and how Morden must be soft to let his aid act so badly in public. He was furious. He dragged me back to the mansion and told me I needed a lesson on patience. I was convinced I was going to get tortured, and in a way I was right.   
  
He gave me a list of tasks to do. Simple things that involved cleaning and organizing. Things that would take an hour to do at most. The catch was Onyx and other various slaves and servants at the mansion would be making life very difficult for me. The slaves and servants would wait until I was done and mess up whatever I accomplished as soon as I walked away. Onyx took a more hands-on approach (literally) by stopping me mid-task, dragging me across the mansion, and leaving me to make the long walk back to where I was. Considering the size of this place, getting back took a long time. Sometimes I'd get completely lost and have to ask someone for directions, which they wouldn't give me. The tasks were supposed to take an hour, but I've been here for four now and I wasn't even halfway done. My phone had been confiscated, so I couldn't tell any of my friends where I was. That just made the whole situation worse. They were probably worried about me. For all I knew they were organizing a search party. I wanted out as soon as possible.  
  
"Just let me go already!" I hissed. I knew Onyx was walking slow on purpose.  
  
An evil smile spread across Onyx's face and he slowed down even more.   
  
Agony. Pure torture.   
  
I fought and thrashed the entire time and Onyx seemed to enjoy every moment of it. Nothing loosened his grip on my wrist and if anything me fighting made him hold tighter. I just knew I was going to get bruises from this. Onyx finally let me go in one of the various living rooms and I ran for the door. He pulled me back before I could get it open.   
  
"No running."  
  
"Okay!" I tried to pull away.   
  
"No running," he repeated.  
  
"I know! I won't run!"  
  
"You look like you're going to run."  
  
"I just said I won't!"  
  
"I don't believe you."  
  
I took a deep, but strained breath. "I will walk," I said slowly.  
  
"You're not going to run?"  
  
_You smug, sadistic little_ \- "No. I will not run. I will walk."  
  
Onyx held on for a few more seconds, clearly enjoying this, before letting me go. I walked to the door, opened it, then closed it behind me. Then I ran. I looked into the future and saw Onyx exiting the room. I slowed down to a walk and continued on like I had been walking the entire time. He wasn't as stupid as I had hoped. He knew there was no way I could have gotten that far in such a short time if I had been walking. I kept my eyes forward, but heard his footsteps behind me getting faster and closer. I bolted.   
  
At any moment he could have thrown up a force wall and stopped me, but he wanted to tire me out. He wanted me to run. I knew this, but my fight or flight instincts were kicking in and I've never been too good at "fight". All I could think about was getting away. I didn't get far. I was in pretty good shape, but a human can only sprint for so long. I was out of breath when he caught me, but he wasn't even breathing hard.   
  
"I thought you said you weren't going to run," he said, smiling.   
  
"I wasn't. I was powerwalking," I gasped.   
  
"Well, if you're already walking, we might as well walk some more," he said, pulling me in the opposite direction.   
  
I was upset, but too tired to fight. I quietly followed him all the way to the first floor and out into the back gardens. Along a way, one of the slave girls, Lisa, told Onyx that she and the others had undone all the chores I had completed and weren't sure where to go from there. I sighed. It felt like forever since Onyx first took me away from the window. It felt like I was going to spend forever in this mansion.   
  
Onyx let me go. I didn't bother trying to run again, even when he was out of sight. I started the chores over, completely resigned. I finished one project and moved on to the next. When the servants came to mess it up, I quietly redid it and continued on. When Onyx forced me away, I didn't fight or drag my feet. Surprisingly, that seemed to speed the process up. Before when I fought, he'd hang on even longer until I was done. Now that I was cooperating, we reached his destination quicker and I was let go sooner. I also noticed that by not trying to keep the slaves away from my finished works, I was freed up to continue doing more. I found I could finish cleaning faster than they could ruin what I've already cleaned.   
  
Morden pulled me aside after my last task was completed. I wasn't happy about any of this. I had spent a total of eight hours in that mansion. Even after I stopped fighting, it took me a solid three hours to complete everything.   
  
"I hope you've learned an important lesson about patience today," Morden said. "Sometimes being calm will get you to your goal quicker than anger or rushing ever will."  
  
"I understand," I muttered.   
  
"I expect there will be no more outbursts from you like from this morning."  
  
"There won't be."  
  
"Good. You're dismissed."  
  
I walked, not ran, out the front door.  
  



End file.
